AMONG THE SOUTHERN ALPS.

Otago Witness, Issue 2400, 1 March 1900, Page 67

AM ONG THE SOUTHERN ALPS.

PLUCKY LADY CLIMBERS. ADVENTURES OF A PROSPECTOR. (Special to the Daily Times.) TIMARU, February 22. A party consisting of Mr and Mrs Malcolm Ross and Miss Turnbull (of Wellington) and Mr J. Wontner Brown (an English alpine climber) returned here to-day, having just | completed a most interesting expedition to the Mount Cook district. Mr and Mrs Ross and Miss Turnbull, leaving the "Hermitage, traversed the great Tasman glacier to its source, and succeeded in making the ascent of the Hochstetter Dome (over 9000 ft high) without the aid of either guide or porter. The ice on the Tasman this year was found lo be unusually broken, and enormous- crevasses and berg-ochrunds stretched across theupper snows of the Hochstetter Dome. The | last portion of the accent was made in a stiff north-wester, and looking clown on lo the West Coast, a wonderful view of swirling mist and cloud met the eye. The party were roped together for six hours. Subsequently Miss Turnbull, Mr Ross, and Mr Brown made the first ascent of a peak 74001t high on the Malte Brun Range. The day was a cloudless one, and the climbers were rewarded with a marvellous view of the whole alpine chain, with its innumerable peaks and glaciers, from the centre of -which Mount Cook towered in majestic grandeur. The peak was named in j honour of Miss Turnbull, she being amongst ' those making the first ascent. | During the expedition lo the Tasman glacier the party weathered a severe snow storm in the upper hut. At an altitude of 5700 ft, on the Malte Brun Range, in two days 6in of snow fell, and 2in of ice formed on the water, which became almost as' scarce as the fuel. _Miss Turnbull is the first New Zealand "lady to make an ascent of the Hochstetter Dome ' and to traverse the great Tasman glacier from end to end. The ladies, have previously made this expedition being Frau Yon Lendenfeldt (a well-known Austrian climber). Miss Maxwell (of Tasmania), and Mrs Malcolm Ross. The whole expedition from the Hermitage and back, involving some 70 miles of the roughest walking in the colony, was made on foot, and the ascents were accomplished without the aid of guides. On returning to the Hermitage Mr Ross and Mr Brown made the ascent of Mount Scaly, on the summit of which they found the cairn erected by Zurbriggen, the famous guide. This peak a; as ascended for -the first time five years ago by Mr Edward A. Fitzgerald, with Zurbriggeu as guide and Jack Clark as. porter, Mr Barrow, an Englishman, i also forming one of the party. -It was the ' first alpine. peak ascended by an Englishman in New Zealand. Mr Ross says the' view is one of the finest he hag seen in the-South-ern Alps, and Mr Brown agrees that it is almost as fine as anything he has experienced in Switzerland. The last portion of the, climb is up a series of precipice's^ on which' the rock is very rotten, involving careful and accurate work". The view extended across the .island from shore to shore and north and south along tlie alpine chain as far .as the eye could see. Three lakes and several large -rivers were also visible far below- THie climb involved 13 hours of steady going. Mr Ross carried his camera to the summit, and secured many unique and interesting views. He also took his camera up the Hochstetter Dome and on to the Malte Brun Range, and comes back with a collection of no fewer than 148 photographs. During the ascent of Mount Scaly the climbers bivouacked under a rock at an altitude of 5000 ft. A few days later two adventurous prospectors—Messrs M'Kay. of South Canterbury, ' and Mr Herbert Butler, of Queensland,— who had crossed the alpine chain in search of gold, returned to the Hermitage by a pass 8000 ft high. Mr Butler describes the joiirney as a very arduous one. The two plucky prospectors started from the Tasman Glacier with swags weighing over 601b each. The first night out they camped on the rocks half way up the pass, levelling a place with their j ice axes. The second clay they reached the western side of the divide, and crept into their sleeping bags on some rocks entirely surrounded by ice. On the third day they got down to the. grass line, and the fourth day they proceeded down to the Spencer Glacier. The gold found was very much battered and water-worn, as if it had come down under the glacier. The prospectors picked gold out of several crevices and lead- | ers with their pen-knives, but the quantities | found were disappointing. The country was, however, so fearfully rough that it could oniy be very imperfectly prospected. The- weather, | too, was bad for nearly five weeks. Mr Butler is, however, of opinion that the rich gold deposits of the Waihoa must have come I originally from' this region. While descending the western snow slopes "Butler started on an involuntary glissade, and had a narrow escape for his life, as he only brought up ju?t i in time on the verge of a deep crevasse. A i falling rock at one time also came perilously near the climbers. i